Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Hafíssetrið
Ólafsbyggð • June-Aug daily 11am-5pm • 500kr
Just off Blöndubyggð and down by the river near Aðalgata, the informative
Hafíssetrið
(Sea Ice Centre) is housed in Hillebrandtshús, Iceland's oldest wooden building, dating
from 1733. Húnaflói is generally the first bay in Iceland to encounter
sea ice
during
the winter months, and the museum displays explain how this phenomenon occurs
- and covers the
polar bears
who sometimes ride the ice as it floats from Greenland
to Iceland. Indeed, the exhausted and half-starved polar bear which came ashore near
Skagaströnd in July 2008, now stuffed, is on display here. Check out, too, the
twenty-minute documentary featuring candid interviews with local fishermen and
farmers voicing their concerns about the effects of global warming on the sea ice - and
their livelihoods.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
BLÖNDUÓS
By bus
All buses on the Reykjavík to Akureyri route stop at
the N1 filling station.
Departures
Akureyri (2 daily; 2hr); Reykjavík (2 daily; 3hr
45min); Varmahlíð (2 daily; 45min).
Tourist information
There's an o
ce (early June to late
Aug Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat & Sun 4-7pm;
T
820 1300,
W
northwest.is) opposite the filling station, down by the
river on Brautarhvammur.
Services
The swimming pool (Mon-Fri 8am-9pm, Sat &
Sun 10am-8pm) and the supermarket (Mon-Fri
10am-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1-5pm) are opposite
each other on Melarbraut, below and behind the church,
whilst the
vínbúð
is at the opposite end of town, near the
hotel, at Aðalgata 8 (Mon-Thurs 2-6pm, Fri 1-7pm, Sat
11am-2pm).
ACCOMMODATION
Campsite
Brautarhvammur
T
820 1300.
Located next
to the tourist information o
ce, the site is right beside the
Ringroad and can be noisy. Hot showers and toilet facilities
are availabl
e in th
e on-site service building. Closed mid-
Sept-April.
900kr
Glaðheimar
Brautarhvammur
T
820 1300,
W
gladheimar.is.
Good-value wooden cabins next to the
tourist o
ce and overlooking the river, though close to the
Ringroad tra
c, too; each sleeps up to eight, is complete
with kitchen and shower and most
also hav
e their own
outdoor jacuzzi on the terrace. From
13,000kr
Hótel Blönduós
Aðalgata 6
T
452 4205,
W
hotelblonduos.is.
Overlooking the sea, the
Blönduós
offers en suite rooms decorated in bold reds and pinks, and
inclusive breakfast, in its main building; the annexe next
door has more neutrally decorated ch
eaper room
s sharing
facilities,
and breakfast is extra.
16,800kr
; annexe
12,000kr
Kiljan
Aðalgata 2
T
452 4500.
Just seven wood-panelled
rooms, all sharing facilities, are available at this friendly
new guesthouse overlooking the sea, which ma
kes a much
better bet than the anonymous hotel next door.
10,000kr
EATING AND DRINKING
Kiljan
Aðalgata 2
T
452 4500.
Polish-run café serving a
couple of central European classics such as Wiener
schnitzel (2500kr) and a hearty and spicy soup (750kr)
as well as the usual range of Icelandic staples such as
salmon, trout and cod.
Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-11pm,
Fri & Sat 10am-3am.
Potturinn
Norðurlandsvegur 4
T
453 5060.
Bright
and airy place beside the main road and the filling
station, offering fish of the day (3090kr), tandoori
chicken breast (3690kr) and even seal steak (5800kr).
Lunch specials, generally fish, are around 1500kr.
Daily 11am-10pm.
Við Árbakkann
Húnarbraut 2
T
452 4678.
Homely
café-bar which serves up grilled panini with various
toppings (1540kr), soup and fresh bread (1050kr), and a
delicious range of home-made cakes including a
mouthwatering carrot cake with cream (740kr).
June-Aug
Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat & Sun 11am-2am.
The Skagi peninsula
Barely a kilometre outside Blönduós, where the Ringroad swings sharply inland to
follow the course of Langidalur valley towards Varmahlíð, Route 74 strikes of north for
23km towards the
Skagi Peninsula
, a lonely, uninhabited landscape of desolate rocky
moors and tussocky grassland studded with tarns. Beyond the peninsula's one and only
town,
Skagaströnd
, the unsurfaced Route 745 begins its tour of the peninsula proper.
